MUSINGS ON LIFE FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE TV SCREEN

DAVID COPPERFIELD

First, before you read this, pick a number between 1 and 50.
Speak the number out loud, so you're committed to it and won't change your mind.

What's more intriguing than a well done magic trick?
I always thought that somewhere along the line, I'd figure out how magicians suspend someone in the air, or slice them in half, but I just don't have a clue.

David Copperfield is one of the best.
On two occasions, Karen and I saw his live magic show at T-PAC here in Nashville.... and both times it left me babbling for days, "how in the world could he possibly do that?!"

There are only three possibilities for how he does all that stuff:
First, he could truly be a master of illusion....
Or, he could have made some sort of a pact with the devil. Probably less likely.

The last time I saw him perform was about 3 years ago.
For certain magic tricks, he'd pick a person out of the audience to participate.
Ahh, an accomplice, I thought. But one of the people he picked was the then-girlfriend of my son, and they didn't even know we were inviting them to join us until shortly before the performance. So it couldn't have been set up in advance.

But it was the first time we attended a David Copperfield show that was most astounding of all.
That night, Copperfield did something that, in my perception, defied both logic and nature.

It was March 18, 1996.
As he concluded his big show, he walked to the front of the stage, lifted his arm, and snow (or something like snow) came shooting out of his sleeve into the audience.
Then, snow (or something like snow) began to fill the whole Jackson Hall, coming from somewhere in the rafters.
It was beautiful and impressive. Obviously, they had installed some sort of dispensers in the rafters, and it snowed on everyone in the auditorium.

But then -- here's the good part -- as we left T-PAC and drove away, a fairly heavy snowfall started and stayed with us all the way home. It actually accumulated on cars and houses. A beautiful, mid-March snowfall.
And it hadn't been in the forecast. Check the weather records.... it happened.

I remember turning to Karen and saying, "That guy is good"!

By the way, the number you picked is 36. Lucky guess? Or magic?.
Have a good day.